Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to fully integrate Apple’s iPhone and Siri voice control system into future A-Class cars.
The company has developed an app specifically for iPhone owners called Drive Kit Plus, which provides access to stuff like Facebook and Twitter, and displays it on the car’s dash display. Surprisingly, Apple has allowed Mercedes-Benz to integrate Siri into the system – the first time the software has been allowed for use outside of the iPhone 4S’s native iOS operating system.
Once an iPhone 4S is connected to the in-car system, everything from Contacts to Calendars to social networking can be accessed through the screen, and controlled using various knobs and buttons situated on the central arm rest. With Siri, users will be able to send text messages, make calls, add appointments and set reminders through the car itself, rather than by pressing and holding the home button on the iPhone itself, which takes away the hands-free aspect somewhat.
We’re not sure why Twitter and Facebook has been integrated into the Drive Kit Plus app – when have you ever felt the compulsive need to check your social networks while driving? Perhaps it could serve as a time-killer for those stuck in traffic, but you’re bound to get your head stuck in it and miss the moment when the lights change, infuriating those behind you.
We’d like to see Siri built in to more devices and kits, so that we can simply dock our iPhones but control the device using our voice from a distance. This would be especially good in Hi-Fi systems, we feel.
New A-Class cars with the iPhone and Siri integration are expected to first go on show next month at the 82nd International Motor Show, which takes place in Geneva on March 8th.
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